Disappearing stairway



March 17, 1953 E. P. GARNER 2,631,77l

DISAPPEARING STAIRWAY Filed Aug. 30, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR'. ERNEST R GARNER.

ATTORNEYS March '17, 1953 E. P. GARNER DISAPPEARING STAIRWAY 3 Sheets-Sheet 2' Filed Aug. 30, 1951 INVENTOR'. ERNE sT P. GARNER.

ATTORNEYS March 17, 1953 E. P. GARNER DISAPPEARING STAIRWAY 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 50, 1951 R-Es r f? GARNER ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DISAPPEARING STAIRW-AY Ernest P. Garner, Charlotte, C. Application August so, 19'51, serial 1%. 244,31: 1 Claim. (01. 228- 50) This invention relates to a disappearing stairway assembly and more especially to that type of disappearing stairway assembly which is associated with the ceiling of a building to pro- 'vide access to the attic thereof.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved disappearing stairway assembly which is particularly adapted to be used in the ceiling of a building having a very shallow attic caused by a low pitch roof wherein the amount of head room available in the attic is limited. To this end, the improved stairway assembly is so constructed as to take up a minimum amount of room in the attic when the stairway is in raised position.

It is another object of this invention to provide a disappearing stairway assembly adapted to be associated with an opening in the ceiling of a room, said assembly comprising a hinged door for closing said opening, a step member adjustably mounted on said door adjacentthe hinged edge thereof, said step member having guide means thereon and said door also having guide means thereon and a ladder slidably mounted in both of said guide means so that the ladder may be moved upwardly beyond the step member into the attic when the assembly is moved to a raised position and wherein a ladder of lesser length than has heretofore been necessary may be utilized since the step member secured to the door forms the uppermost step of the stairway assembly.

It is another object of this invention to provide a disappearing stairway assembly having means associated therewith for limiting the downward movement of the stairway in the process of swinging the same to a lowered position. It is well known that the usual ladder does not reach to the floor below when the hinged door is initially swung to opened position. Heretofore, the door, upon being opened, would swing backwardly from said opening to a position beyond the vertical where excessive strain would be placed on the. hinge point and the subsequent lowering of the ladder would be an awkward and relatively diflicult task. To limit this downward movement of the stairway assembly, it is an object of the present invention to provide rigid spring tensioning members which project into the opening from the wall thereof adjacent the hinge point of the door of the disappearing stairway assembly and tension springs for normally urging the assembly upwardly and said tension springs being connected at one of their ends to a post or the like extending above the opening and having their other ends connected to the stairway assembly and said springs extending in the same vertical plane as the tensioning members whereby, as the door swings beyond apredetermined attitude, an intermediate portion of each spring engages the corresponding spring tensioning member thus, in efiect, decreasing the effective length of the spring. This increases the tension in the springs as the door swings beyond the point at which said springs engage the tensioning members and thereby tends to swing the door in the opposite direction thus limiting rearward or downward movement of the stairway assembly.

It is another object of this invention to provide, in a disappearing stairway assembly of the type described, an improved locking device for locking the ladder of the stairway assembly in lowered position, the ladder being provided with resilient means normally urging the same upwardly or to retracted position. Said looking device comprises a pivoted latch member mounted on the ladder and the guide means on said door, in which said ladder is slidably mounted, serving as a stop means which is engaged by said pivoted latch for locking the ladder in extended or lowered position relative to the door. The pivoted latch is also provided with a cam which will cause the latch to ride over the stop means when it is desired to raise the ladder.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of the improved stairway assembly showing the same in lowered position and showing the same as associated with an opening in the ceiling of a room, said ceiling being shown in section;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembly showing the ladder and door in elevated position and showing the ceiling in section; V

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view of the stairway assembly showing the same in raised position;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary isometric view of the improved stairway assembly showing the door as though swung beyond its normal attitude but showing the ladder in lowered position for purposes of clarity;

Figure 5 is an enlarged elevation of the locking device in the lower left-hand portion of Figure 4 and showing the ladder in locked position;

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevation of the locking device shown in Figure 5 but showing the manner in which the cam on the pivoted latch is effective to permit the latch member to ride over the upper Z-shaped guide bracket;

Figure 7 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line in Figure 2;

Figure 8 (Sheet 1) is a sectional plan view through the stairway assembly taken substantially along the line 8-8 in Figure 4 and showing the manner in which the auxiliary step member is adjustably secured to the door.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral l designates the floor line of a building or thelike having a ceiling l| spaced thereabove. The ceiling has an opening |2 therein defined by transverse ceiling frame members or beams 13 and longitudinal side frame members M. A door I is hingedly connected to one of the beams 3, as at l6, and this door I5 is provided as a support for the disappearing stairway and as a closure member for the opening I2 when the stairway assembly is in raised position. The frame members |3 are provided with bars I! which act as stops for the door l6.

Now, in order to normally urge the door I5 upwardly and to hold the door E5 in raised position when the stairway assembly is raised, a pair of posts 2% and 2| are provided which are suitably secured to the proximate surfaces of the frame members M on each side of the opening [2 and extend upwardly from said opening. A spanner l3 preferably extends between the posts 213 and 2| for bracing. Each of the'lower ends of said posts 28 and 2| has a rigid spring tensioning member 22 suitably secured thereto and projecting inwardly therefrom. The spring guide tensioning members 22 are identical, except opposite hand, and each has one end thereof secured to the corresponding transverse bar H and is cut away, as at 24, and is also provided with a shoulder portion 25. The shoulder portions 25 are adapted to engage intermediate portions of tension spring 26 which are secured at their upper ends to the posts 20 and 2|, as by hooked anchor bolts 21, and which have their lower ends connected to the door l5 in a manner to be described. The posts 25 and 2| each has a plurality of vertically spaced holes 28 therein, in any one of which the corresponding anchor bolt 2! may be positioned to adjust the tension in the springs 26.

The door I5 is provided with a pair of spaced longitudinally extending support members 35 secured thereto and which are connected at their lower ends or their ends adjacent the free end of the door i5 by a brace plate 3| which is also secured to the door 15. Adjustably positioned between the upper ends of the support members 30 (Figure 4) is an auxiliary step member broadly designated at 32 which comprises a tread 33 and spaced side rails 34 and 35 connected at their upper ends by the tread 33. This step member 32 has the rails 34 and 35 thereof secured to blocks and 3'! which slidably engage the proximate edges of the support members 30.

The auxiliary step member 32 is adjustably secured in position by any suitable means such as bolts 46 (Figures 4 and 8) which extend through the side rails 34 and 35 and into suitable grooves in the blocks 36 and 31 and through suitable bores ii in the support members 30 and are held in position as by nuts 42. When it is desired to vary the elevation of the auxiliary step member 32, the nuts 42 may be loosened and the blocks 8% and 3'! may be raised or lowered so that the bolts may be passed through other bores 4|. to 15 thus permit the auxiliary step member 32 to be secured in any desired position,

The lower ends of the side rails 34 and 35 of the auxiliary step member 32 are bridged by a cross piece 45 suitably secured thereto. The cross piece 45 has a pair of substantially Z-shaped upper guide brackets 46 suitably secured thereto as by bolts M. The upper inwardly projecting flanges of the brackets 48 are adapted to support and guide side rails 48 of a suitable ladder, said side rails 48 being connected by a plurality of treads 5d. The side rails 43 are provided with longitudinally extending grooves 5| on the outer surfaces thereof in which the flanges of the brackets at are disposed to permit the ladder to have sliding movement on the brackets 46. Each of the brackets 46 is provided with a roller 53 rotatably mounted thereon. as at 54, which roller engages the lower edges of the rails 58 of the ladder to facilitate sliding movement thereof relative to the brackets 45. A stop 55 may be secured to at least one of the ladder side rails 58 at the upperend thereof, said stop 55 being provided for engagement with the adjacent bracket 2- 5 to limit downward movement of the ladder.

The cross piece 3|, which is secured to the door I5 and extends between the support members 3%, has a pair of lower Z-shaped brackets 62 suitably secured thereto as by bolts 6|. The upper inwardly directed flanges of the brackets as also are positioned in the grooves 5| in the corresponding rails 48 of the ladder and the brackets $8 are also provided with rollers 62 rotatably mounted thereon, as at 63, for engagement by the lower edges of the rails 48 to facilitate sliding movement of the ladder relative to the door l5.

Novel locking means are provided for locking the ladder in lowered position, which locking means comprises an irregularly-shaped pivoted latch member 65 pivotally mounted on one of the side rails 48 as at 66. The latch member 65 is provided with a pointed end portion 61, at the end thereof remote from the pivot point 6 6, forming a cam surface which is adapted to ride over the Z-shaped brackets 45 and 60 as the ladder is lowered relative to the door E5. The latch 65 is cut away on the lower edge thereof, as at 58, to provide a shoulder or hook portion which will engage the inwardly directed flange of the bracket 66 to lock the ladder in lowered position.

The latch 55 is also provided with an arcuate slot 19 which is loosely penetrated by a pin ll secured to the rail 48 for limiting movement of said latch about its pivot point 58. The latch 35 is also provided with a handle portion l2 to permit an operator to raise the same about the pivot point 56 to disengage the shoulder portion 38 from the bracket 60 when he desires to raise said ladder.

It is thus seen that, as the ladder is moved from upper to lowered position, the pointed portion '67 of the latch 65 will ride over the bracket 46 and the bracket Gil, successively, and then, as the ladder is released, the bracket 6% will be engaged by the shoulder portion 68 of the latch to hold the ladder in lowered position as will be observed in Figure 5.

Now, when it is desired to raise the ladder, an operator may grasp the handle portion E2 of the latch 65 and lift the same upwardly about the pivot point 66 to permit the ladder to be moved upwardly.' Now, in order to prevent the shoulder portion'tfl from engaging the corresponding upper bracket 46, as the ladder is moved to raised po- -sition, a can; member or do 15 is pivotally secured to the latch member 65, as at 1'6, and this cam member 15 is preferably substantially triangular in shape. As the ladder is moved up wardly, this cam member will move, by gravity, into engagement with an abutment or pin Ti projecting from latch 65 and the corresponding bracket d6 will force the dog 15 and the latch 65 to move in a counter-clockwise direction, as shown in Figure 6, so the latch 55 will ride over the bracket 45. The lower end of the cam or dog I5 extends into the line of the inturned portions of brackets 46 and 60 so that, as the device is again lowered, this lower end of the cam 15 will be successively engaged by the brackets 46 and 62 to move the same to the position shown in Figures 4 and 5.

Means are provided for normally urging the ladder upwardly relative to the door 15 which means preferably comprise a spring drum assembly 89 secured to the upper end of each of the rails 35 and 35 of the auxiliary step member 32. The spring drums 80 each has a tape 8| extending therefrom, the other end of which has a pulley 82 connected thereto. A cable or cord 83 is connected to each side of the door as by one of the bolts 65 holding the brackets 50 in position and the cables 83 extend over the pulleys 82 and the other ends thereof are suitably connected to brackets 34 (Figures 1 and 2) secured to the side rails 48.

The brackets 84 are preferably made in the form of angle clips with the horizontal legs thereof disposed above the grooves 51 to thereby insure that these brackets 84 may pass the guide brackets 60 with movement of the ladder in opposite directions.

The spring drum assemblies 80 and tapes 8! may be of any desired construction such as that shown in my prior Patent No. 2,203,086 of June 4, 1950, or Patent No. 2,551,208 of May 1, 1951, and a further description thereof is deemed unnecessary. It should be noted, however, that the spring drum assemblies 80 preferably provide suflicient tension to urge the ladder upwardly but not enough tension to actually raise the ladder or, in other words, to counterbalance the weight of the ladder so that it is necessary for an operator to exert additional pressure on the ladder when raising the ame.

The ladder is also preferably provided with a suitable hand rail 86 secured thereto as by standards 81. By utilizing the auxiliary step member 32, the ladder proper, formed from the rails 48 and treads 50, may be of substantially less length than has heretofore been necessary and this will permit the ladder to be used in attics having a low sloping roof where ladders of conventional or other longer lengths would not fit when in raised position.

It will be observed that in this improved disappearing stairway assembly, the fioor of the attic indicated at 88 acts as a top step and the tread 33 of the auxiliary step member 32 acts as a second step thus eliminating two steps from the ladder itself and greatly reducing the necessary length of the sliding ladder.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claim.

I claim:

An improvement in a disappearing stairway assembly adapted to be used with an attic having an attic opening therein, said stairway assembly having a door pivoted at one end to an end wall of said opening for movement downwardly at its free end and also having a ladder slidably mounted on the upper side of the door, said improvement comprising an auxiliary step having a pair of parallel rails secured to each end thereof on the lower ends of which the upper portion of the ladder is slidably mounted, a block secured to each side rail and slidably engaging the upper surface of the door, longitudinally extending support members secured to the upper surface of the door and slidably engaged on their proximate surfaces by the remote edges of said blocks; said support members having a plurality of bores therethrough disposed in a plane parallel to the upper surface of the door, each rail having a bolt penetrating the same and adapted to extend through any one of the bores in the support members for securing the auxiliary step and the ladder in adjusted position relative to the door.

ERNEST P. GARNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,994,883 Chambers Mar. 19, 1935 2,163,142 Frazier June 20, 1939 2,203,086 Garner June 4, 1940 2,551,208 Garner May 1, 1951 

